Kunduz Taken: Effects of the Taliban Offensive on the Future of Afghanistan
Kunduz Taken: Effects of the Taliban Offensive on the Future of Afghanistan

Author(s): Beata Górka-Winter
Subject(s): Government/Political systems, Security and defense, Military policy, Geopolitics, Peace and Conflict Studies
Published by: PISM Polski Instytut Spraw Międzynarodowych
Keywords: Afghanistan; Afghan National Security Forces; Taliban; allied forces in Afghanistan; Afghan National Army; conflict;
Summary/Abstract: The ongoing clashes between the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) backed by U.S. troops on one side and the Taliban on the other in the Afghan city of Kunduz has exposed fundamental shortcomings in the government’s current counter-insurgency strategy as well as the weakness of the Afghan troops now deployed in the province. The enormous difficulty in regaining control over the city points to the need for re-evaluation of the current use of allied forces in Afghanistan, their rules of engagement, as well as the necessity of increasing assistance to the Afghan National Army (ANA). Moreover, the Afghan Ministry of Defence should be strengthened, training of ANA intensified and supplies delivered at a quicker pace. Losing control over this strategic province runs the risk the Taliban offensive will reach Kabul and other provinces. If it does, Afghanistan could become an arena of competition between various political forces in the country and once again entangle it in a long and debilitating conflict.

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